Sae's Story
by Kaira-chan
Summary: Though we have a good idea what Katou had to go through once he left home, what did his sister have to go through while her baby brother was gone?


My first Angel Sanctuary fic that wasn't written for a 30 themes community. Go me. There really are no pairingsin this, with the exception of the obvious. Sae/her husband and Setsuna/Sara near the end.

**Warning: **There are mentions of attempted rape, but since it's not explicit, I'm still going for a T rating. You have been warned, and if you have a problem please tell me and I'll up the rating. Also, there are spoilers for the manga. I can't remember exactly _what _volume, but ... let's just say 15 to be safe, okay? XD

I don't own Angel Sanctuary. 3

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From the day Yue was born, Sae knew that her father hated him, but she couldn't understand why. She knew that her father often said things like "he has bad blood" and "He's not my son" but she was still too young to understand why. 

She knew though, that her father hated Yue. She remembered once when Yue had been just a baby. It was late, and her mother and father were fighting again. She had stayed up late, unable to go to sleep with their screaming.

Then her mother had started screaming. "Stop, you'll kill him!"

Sae had jumped out of bed as quickly as she was able, hopefully to protect her baby brother. She ran into the room, and saw Yue in her father's arms, crying. "Stop it, daddy!" she had cried. Her father had looked at her, looked at Yue, then handed the baby roughly to his wife, before he stormed out of the house.

She knew then that she had to love her brother for both her and her father, and that she needed to protect him. At least for a little while. Her father had always been such a nice man, and she knew he would eventually come around to loving her brother.

Sae's attempts to get her father to appreciate her brother weren't exactly working. She was thirteen years old now, and she knew what her father meant when he said Yue wasn't his son, but she still couldn't see why he couldn't just accept Yue. He had been the one to raise Yue, after all, not the man her mother had used to love.

Sae still loved her father a lot, but she couldn't help but sometimes be annoyed at him. Yue was trying so hard for his father's affection, but it seemed no matter what he did, their father just continued to get more and more angry.

Sometimes, he would even shout at Sae, especially when she tried to stand up for her younger brother. One time he had even thrown a stuffed bear at her. He had apologised soon after, and then taken her out for ice cream, but she hadn't accepted. She wouldn't unless he apologised to Yue as well and took him out for ice cream as well.

Then, one day, when she was fifteen, her younger brother had come home with blond hair. Inwardly, she wept, because she knew that it would be nearly impossible for them to get along now that Yue was acting like that as well, though she had known it was going to be inevitable. Outwardly, she said nothing, besides compliment him on his new hair colour (in reply he had cursed at her, but she had known no matter what she would say he would, because she knew that he hated her, but she couldn't figure out why.)

It wasn't too long after that that he had gotten into the drinking, smoking and the drugs.

Soon after, he ran away, and she was terrified she'd never see her baby brother again.

Sae was worried, but not about her brother. Though she still worried about him nearly constantly, her mother had fallen into a depression. After Yue had left, her mother was filled with a deep kind of guilt, and had become depressed. She and her father both had to work hard to keep her happy and make sure she ate properly.

She was walking home, her boyfriend walking with her, his hand around her waist. She had a rather good day, and gotten 100 on a math quiz, and was eager to show her parents. She wanted them to be happy again, and had worked herself ragged to get the grade that she was sure would make them happy.

"Who's that?" her boyfriend asked, his grip around her tightening.

Sae looked, and frowned slightly. A brown haired boy was standing in front of her house, and stood there, almost as though he was studying it. She recognized his school uniform as that of an all-boy's school.

"I don't know," she said to her boyfriend, then pulled away from him to go up to the stranger. Upon closer inspection, she realized he was smoking, and her heart filled with joy that it might be someone who knew her younger brother.

Then with dread. Had something happened to him?

"Excuse me, can I help you?" she asked.

He looked her up and down, looking thoughtful. "Is this Katou's house?" he asked.

Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, and she nodded. "I'm his sister. Has something happened to Yuu-kun?"

"Yuu-kun?" the boy asked, raising an eyebrow, then he at her again and gave a low whistle. "Wow, good looks must run in the family or something. You're really hot."

She blushed. She knew she should be offended, but this was someone who might know something about her baby brother!

He stepped up beside her, and put an arm around her shoulder. "So, how about you come back to my place and we can–"

She never found out what they could do, because her boyfriend stormed up to this strange boy and pulled him away from her. "What do you think you're doing! That's _my _girlfriend."

The boy held up his hands, laughing. "Sorry, I didn't know she was taken. Katou can't hold a relationship, I didn't think his sister would be able to either."

Her boyfriend let go of the boy quickly at the mention of this Katou, and shot Sae both a confused and apologetic look. "You know Yue?" he asked. Sae had told him all about her family after they had been dating for over a year, and the first thing she had mentioned was her brother.

The boy stared at him for a moment. "Yue?" he said slowly, then burst out laughing. "Oh God, _Yue_? You're not serious, are you?" He was leaning on the older boy for support due to how hard he was laughing.

Sae was blushing, but embarrassed and angry for her brother. She waited patiently for him to stop, and when he didn't, she figured she needed to say something.

"Do you know anything about my brother? Has something happened to him?"

The boy forced himself to stop laughing, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

He looked at Sae again. "You two don't look very similar, you know." He dropped his now dog-ended cigarette on the ground. "Maybe I have the wrong Katou. He doesn't really seem like a Yue."

Sae stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before pulling out a photo from her purse. "Wait!" she cried, desperate for any news of her brother. "This is him." She shoved the photo in the stranger's face.

"Yep, that's my Katou," the boy said, taking out another cigarette. He plucked the picture out of her hands and held it towards the sun. "Aww, wasn't he a cute wittle kid."

She had the horrible feeling she was being mocked.

Her boyfriend seemed to pick up of her discomfort. "Hey, asshole. Give her back her photo and tell her about her brother."

The boy looked at them, and handed her back the photo. "I'm Kira Sakuya," he introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Sakuishi Ryusuke," Sae's boyfriend introduced himself, not taking Kira's. Kira seemed unphased.

"Katou Sae," Sae said, taking his hand.

They stood outside in silence for a moment longer.

"So, about Yuu-kun," Sae prompted.

Unfortunatly, her prompt didn't get her the result she wanted.

"Jesus, am I starved," Kira moaned, shooting her a look of painful suffering with underlaying mockery.

Sakuishi bristled, though Sae was still calm. "Would you like to come inside to eat something?" she sighed.

"Would I ever!" Kira said, already walking to and through the front door.

He gave a low whistle once he was inside. "Nice place," he said, looking around. "I don't know why Katou prefers to stay in my little whole in the ground when he could come home to this."

He sat down in the kitchen, and Sae began to prepare him something to eat while Sakuishi sat across from him, glaring.

"So, he's still okay? Nothing bad happened to him?" Sae asked hopefully.

"Hey, baby. How about once we're done in here you take me to your room."

"Just answer the question!" Sakuishi snapped, almost before Kira was done his sentence.

"Well, nothing too bad's happened to him. Nothing important, anyway," Kira said, helping himself to some fruit on the table.

Kira fell silent for a moment, realized he wasn't going to get a reaction other than the relieved sigh Sae gave, and continued grudgingly.

"He just got out of the hospital, actually. ODed." Sae tensed. "It's not the first time he's had to go to the hospital, and he's ODed or nearly ODed more times than I can count. I've had to carry him home more times than I care to remember. One time, he..." he trailed off at the horrified look Sae was giving him.

"You're getting me something to eat, right?" Kira reminded her, and she hurried back to his food. She brought it back to him, watching him anxiously.

He took a bite hungrily. "Anyway, normally–" He held up a finger to indicate 'Just wait a moment' then swallowed. "Sorry, I got into a fight with my pop, and haven't eaten anything in a couple of days.

"Like I was saying," he took another bite, "normally I wouldn't bother you over something as little as ODing, but–" he took another few bites, and Sae suspected that he was enjoying leaving them in suspense. "But, he," Kira's voice was softening, and he had a serious, concerned and slightly sorrowful look that neither of the other teens and thought he was capable of. Sae then realized that she was talking to a middle schooler. He wasn't acting his age at all.

"Usually, after Katou does that to himself, he stops for a while. He tries to quit. But he didn't this time. He did it to himself again the day after he got out of the hospital. Or tried to. He ended up ripping my favourite sweater when I took them from him."

Kira looked up at them, for he had been speaking to his hands, then shrugged. "Don't' thank me. If he wasn't in my gang, I wouldn't give a fuck, but he is so I'm stuck with him."

He pulled a pen from his pocket, grabbed Sae's arm, and scribbled down two addresses on it. "The first one's where he's staying now. You might want to look around, it's under some debris. The second's where my gang hangs out." He paused, as if contemplating something, then scribbled down a phone number.

"What's this?" Sae asked as Kira grabbed the rest of his food and began heading towards the door.

"My phone number. Hit me up if you ever get sick of Ryusukechan," he sang. It took all of Sakuishi's will power to not yell an insult after the fourteen-year-old.

Sae went past the address Kira had given her several times. Sometimes she saw him, sometimes she didn't, but he never saw her. Part of her was thankful, the other part wished he would, because now that she had the chance, she discovered it a lot harder to even approach him than she thought it would be.

She had told her mother the address that Katou had been staying at, but never her father.

Eventually, she couldn't stand her own weakness of being unable to approach him, and stopped going.

Sae had been quite surprised when she found out that the restaurant that Ryusuke had taken her for their fourth year anniversary was a very expensive one, but she hadn't thought nothing terribly special or life changing would happen there.

That was, until Ryusuke knelt beside her, and pulled out a ring. He asked her to marry him, and when she said yes, the whole restaurant burst into applause.

Sae's mother helped with preparing the wedding day, and Sae didn't mind in the least. She hadn't seen her mother this cheerful and alive for years.

"And, of course, we'll have to invite Yue," her mother said one day while the two of them were going out for coffee and discussing wedding plans.

Sae looked shocked for a moment, then allowed a small smile. "I would like Yuu-kun to come," she agreed. "But, I don't think I would be able to approach him, mom. I've tried and I don't have enough courage."

"Oh, but he must come!" her mother said, smiling widely. "If you can't ask him, then I will! I'm sure he'd be thrilled to see you be wed!"

Sae smiled and nodded, not quite willing to disagree, though part of her suspected that Yue really couldn't care about whether or not she was getting married.

She heard about the encounter the next day. Yue had been with a woman when his mother had shown up - though, apparently neither of them were naked just yet - and had been quite irritated that she had shown up. Yue brushed it off, saying he didn't care and had plans to sleep whatever day it was that Sae was getting married. She had told him he should at least wish Sae congratulations, and he hadn't given an answer, instead closed the door in his mother's face. She said that she just knew Yue would come, but the way how her depression had returned soon after the encounter left Sae doubtful.

It was a couple of weeks later when she heard a tapping on her window. She went and looked out of it, half expecting to see Ryusuke paying her a romantic, late night visit. Instead she saw a blond boy, and it only took her a moment to realize who it was.

"Yuu-kun!" she exclaimed, opening up the window hurriedly. "Why didn't you come from the front?" She was positive her mother would've loved to see Yue. She would've loved to know that her son had back, if even for a visit.

"Shh!" Yue hissed, shooting a glance towards their parents bedrooms. "Do you want dad to find me?"

Sae shook her head, understanding, and gave a bit of a start when Yue offered her a wrapped box.

"This is... For me?" Sae asked cautiously, eyeing the box. Her brother was living on his own, there was no way he could've afforded to get something for her. He lived in an old abandoned room that was never bothered with because it was covered with debris and old rubble. "No, I can't take it."

"Why?" Yue asked, looking genuinely confused. "This is.."

"Because this, isn't it stolen?" Sae asked, feeling slightly guilty at the shocked look that Yue had given her. But she couldn't accept stolen goods. She quickly tried to explain herself. "It's just strange. You haven't come home, yet you have money..."

"I have a job," Yue said, shrugging. Sae felt somewhat proud of him, and barely heard him tack on something about selling pills. She chose not to hear it. Still, however, she didn't move towards him.

"Just take it!" Yue yelled, growing angry. She wondered if it was the drugs or just him that had such a short temper.

"Don't be so loud!" Sae said quickly, trying to hush him. She pulled her blanket tighter around her. "Father will hear you. He's gotten very sensitive." She looked towards her bedroom door. "He'll mistake this if he sees you in my room. He's always saying stupid things like 'he has bad blood flowing in his veins, so watch out'." She gave a start and covered her mouth, gasping. She hadn't meant to let that slip out.

She saw the look on Yue's face. He looked fed up, tired of it, but not surprised. She began shaking, wondering if this was why he had suddenly changed. "So, all this time... You've... known," she said slowly, wondering how to say it.

"You pretended you didn't know, acted like a good sister, pitying this scorned kid." His voice was cold, and he was smiling, but she knew he was angry. It amazed her how much he had changed in these past five years. "But you never understood my feelings." He jumped forward, grabbing her hand. "Yes, I am a bastard child from my mother's past," he growled. The lustful look in his eyes scared her. "So no matter what I do," he was screaming now. "It wouldn't be unbelievable!"

"Yuu-kun?" she asked, afraid as he pushed her.

"Our family has fallen apart, but all I can do is pretend that I don't see anything! Enough is enough! I will completely destroy what still remains!" She wished he would be quieter. As scared as she was, she didn't want her father to find Yue like this.

"No!" she screamed as he slammed her into the dresser. He was clawing at her pajama top now, his leg wedged between hers. She didn't want her father to find him, but she hoped someone would. She didn't want to be raped. She didn't want to be unclean for when she married Ryusuke.

"Yue!" her father screamed as her rushed through the door. "You bastard!"

She was both relieved and horrified when her father grabbed Yue off of her and slammed him into her desk, but she was shocked when Yue didn't hit their father, he had the chance. Instead, he was looking horrified, staring at something under their father's foot. She followed his gaze, and looked to see the wrapped gift he had bought her crushed under her father's foot.

"I didn't," Yue started, then pushed his father away violently, jumping out of the window and rushing down the street.

"That bastard!" her father growled, running towards the window.

"Daddy, wait!" Sae cried, rushing forward and holding onto him. "Calm down, daddy. You might hurt yourself. Go back to bed, thank you." She kissed him lightly on the forehead.

He calmed down a little, before leaving her room, cursing about the bastard child and his bad blood.

Sae knelt down beside the gift that Yue had brought her, and pulled back the paper. She gasped when she saw the box that her father had given her when she was little. She had told her father that she had brought it to school one day and lost it, but she knew that it had been Yue who had taken it.

She began to sob then, looking at the antique, and began to gather it up. Ryusuke was handy. He could repair it. Hopefully, he could repair her family.

The wedding had been wonderful, she remembered. They had gotten married in the spring, and both families had pooled together money so they could get married in the Golden Week in the park.

Unfortunately, soon after she had been married, her father had fallen ill. It seemed as though he had realized that it was him who had turned Yue like that, and the guilt had drawn him into an illness. He had resisted going to the doctors, until one day, he had collapsed and been hospitilized. They told them then that he only had a short amount of time to live.

Sae was the one to go to Yue this time. She begged him to come. At least to visit their father once.

He had refused, and when her father died, she had gone back to Yue's to tell him. He didn't answer the door, so she went down to see him.

"Yuu-kun?" she called. When she saw him looking at her with blank eyes, leaning on his bed, with empty bottles all around him, she hesitate. Then she took a breath. "Yuu-kun, father's dead. Please just come to the funeral. Please," she begged him.

He didn't respond, just continued staring at her, and she was worried that he was dead until he shifted slightly. He sent an empty pill bottle rolling towards her, and she wasn't sure what to do.

"Sae, finally decided to take me up on my offer, hm?" a voice said from behind her. She gave a start and whirled around to see Kira standing behind her. "Kira-kun, he–"

"I know," Kira said, then shrugged. "He's been like this for a while now."

"But he..." Sae started, beginning to sob.

"Go back to your husband," Kira said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Katou's my responsibility, so he won't die while I'm around." He shot her a grin. "I promise."

She felt reassured, as though she could trust him, and nodded, before heading up the stairs. "Oh, Kira-kun," she said, whirling around.

"When he's capable of understanding, I'll tell him about the funeral," Kira said, grinning again. He walked over to Katou and began talking softly to him, stroking his head, and Sae turned and left. There was nothing that she could do.

Yue never came to the funeral, or the wake.

Ryusuke and her had been married for two years now, and she was expecting their first child soon. She was knitting and watching the news, when she saw something that made her stop.

"Katou Yue, found dead."

"RYUSUKE!" she screamed, staring wide eyed at the TV.

He ran into the living room. "What is it, dear?" he asked frantically, running to her side and feeling her stomach.

She pointed at the T.V, her finger shaking and her skin pale.

"The suspected teenager is a friend of the victim, Kira Sakuya."

"Yue?" her husband asked, looking with a kind of detached horror at the caption at the bottom of the screen.

"The two were in a gang together. They got into an argument over minor things, and Katou-kun was killed with a stolen katana. Someone buried the corpse in the backyard of the school along with the lighter."

"Yuu-kun," she said, her voice shaking.

"Darling, shh," her husband soothed, holding her close and cradling her.

The day of the funeral was bright and sunny. Sae wished it was raining.

The minister said things, empty praises of a boy he had never met before. A couple of boys from Katou's gang went up to give eulogies, but it seemed almost as if they didn't care. A young blond boy went up, looking as though he was going to cry. His last words were "I hope he's happy," and Sae nearly began to cry again.

After the burial, Sae went up to the blond boy.

"You knew Yuu-kun?" she asked.

He looked at her and smiled at her softly. Another blonde girl, who Sae suspected was either his sister or lover was looked up at her with sorrowful eyes.

"You're Sae-san, aren't you?" the boy asked. "Yuu-kun told me about you."

"Yuu...You called him Yuu-kun?" she asked.

The boy nodded. "I'm Mudou Setsuna. The two of us didn't get along until near the end, but he was one of the best friend's I've ever had."

"I–" Sae choked, and her husband wrapped an arm around her again. "I always wish I could've been better... I wish..."

Setsuna smiled at her again. "He liked you. He didn't show it, but he liked you."

"He..." she looked around again, trying once again to see the familiar brown haired boy. "Kira-kun... Is Kira-kun here?"

Mudou looked at the girl, and she began sobbing louder. "Kira died," he said slowly.

It took a moment for it to sink in, and she felt sick. She wanted to know one more thing though. "He didn't really... he didn't?"

A flash of guilt crossed Mudou's face. "No. He was just covering for someone else," he said. "Taking the fall. He would never..." Mudou allowed himself to trail off, then looked at her and smiled again. "Please, be happy. Katou wants you to be happy. He wants you to just mourn for him, and to be happy."

Sae looked at him, feeling somewhat confused and thinking that this boy as well acted older than he was.

"Katou's happy. Kira and Katou are happy," Mudou said, then smiled. "Katou would be happier if you were too."

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Con crit more than welcome. Flames will be mocked. 


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